


My Needlework

by Theonenamedafterahat



Category: The Musketeers (2014)
Genre: But it seemed like a good idea at the time, I Don't Even Know, I know nothing about stitches, M/M, Medical or otherwise, Though I did once stab MYSELF through the palm when trying to thread a needle
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-02-03
Updated: 2014-02-03
Packaged: 2018-01-11 00:10:24
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 711
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1166266
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Theonenamedafterahat/pseuds/Theonenamedafterahat
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Aramis knows Porthos' body almost as well as he does his own. Traces of him are littered all over Porthos, which Aramis finds strangely fitting, as he cannot stop thinking about their bearer himself.</p>
            </blockquote>





	My Needlework

**Author's Note:**

> “Scars are just another kind of memory.”  
> ― M.L. Stedman, The Light Between Oceans

Although Aramis has lend his needle and thread to many of Porthos' wounds, there are three that he remembers with blistering clarity. 

_The first of these is only memorable because it is the first wound of Porthos' that he has stitched. It is not life threatening, but they have just finished battle and Aramis is on edge, because he has never been good at calming himself after a battle. It is done in private, clandestine only because Athos is still consulting with the Commander and Pathos still doesn't trust the other Musketeers yet; not completely. For days after, Pathos' arm is bandaged and they avoid making eye contact. Aramis doesn't sleep easy until the scar is visible and he walks like a king once it is, and he can see his scar (and it will always be his scar as much as it is Porthos') on his friend's arm. It is the length of his hand, just over half a centimetre deep, and it bled too much (any bleeding was too much)._

Athos has never asked for Aramis' attention for his own wounds, and it has never been offered. Generally there are others with the knowledge to make as good an effort as Aramis could, and they both know that if either of them have been injured in a fight, Porthos will also have been, most often to a greater extent. 

_The second was because when it was caused, that was the first time he truly feared for his friend's life. It had been a long siege, and he had watched the sword slice across Porthos' back as he held off two other men. Aramis had shot the sword's bearer twice; once because it was his duty and twice because he couldn't stop fighting to save one man without jepordising their position, but he could make that death as difficult as he was able (and if Porthos died fighting this scum then he would - then he...)_

Porthos can't seem to help throwing himself at guns and axes and swords, and often he will throw away his own weapon in favour of attacking with his own self. Aramis thinks that Porthos' sometimes forgets that he is a soldier now, not alone on the streets of Paris, that he has weapons to fight with, and that his life is not something that can be easily risked without some kind of consequence. 

 _The third he remembers because he put it there. He doesn't mention it in the times after when he has to sew up his friend like he is so many pieces of cloth, although there are others that he almost takes pride in. Athos and he had been taken captive, and Aramis had been left to lead the men in attempt to rescue them. He had been aiming for the guard, and yet  musket ball had gone straight through Porthos left shoulder and out of the other side._  

_Afterwards he never raised a gun if there was the slightest doubt he could hit another musketeer. Even with the life of the Queen at stake, when criminals were swarming the courtyard, he can't help rushing to prevent what could have been a repeat of one of his worst mistakes when another man tries to fire at men standing in front of a musketeer. Those balls can travel faster then seems possible, and if he shoots Porthos again he might not be forgiven. (If he were a better man he would not wish to be forgiven, but then if he were a better man, it would not bother him. If he were a better man, he would leave and never return, and never have these thoughts again. But it does bother him, and he isn't a better man.)_

Aramis knows Porthos' body almost as well as he does his own. Traces of him are littered all over Porthos, which Aramis finds strangely fitting, as he cannot stop thinking about their bearer himself.

And it's comforting to know that he's made such a mark, on a man like that. That his legacy to Porthos will not only be a rhapsody of silence, but his best work - as fine as that on any nobleman's cloak, and as visible as the words on the pages of books. 


End file.
